Killzone: Mercenary – new trailer, screens and gameplay details!

The floodgates have opened! Hands-on impressions from recent Killzone: Mercenary press events in Amsterdam, LA and Taipei have started appearing all over the web, and that means we can finally reveal additional details about the game. We also have a brand-new trailer for you to enjoy:

Killzone: Mercenary is a new first-person shooter in the Killzone series, developed specifically for the PlayStation Vita platform and powered by the stunning Killzone 3 engine.

Starting just after the ending of the original Killzone, and revisiting many of the events from the Killzone trilogy, the game puts players in the rugged combat boots of a mercenary named Arran Danner. Danner is a former UCA-soldier who has no qualms about taking on paid contracts from the ISA as well as the Helghast.

When a seemingly routine mission to evacuate the Vektan Ambassador and his family in Pyrrhus goes awry, Danner discovers that the outcome of the war could very well depend on the fate of the Ambassador’s young son. With both sides going through increasingly desperate lengths to get hold of the boy, he begins to wonder whether the price of victory is really worth the paycheck.

Comprised of nine single-player missions — each nearly an hour in length— Killzone: Mercenary delivers a full Killzone experience in a portable package. Completed missions unlock additional replay challenges, with a host of special objectives to accomplish. The game also boasts a full-fledged multiplayer mode with six maps tailored for eight players and three different game types, including the popular Warzone mode.

In keeping with the soldier-for-hire theme, every action in Killzone: Mercenary is rewarded. The better you perform, the higher your payout – not just in the single-player campaign, but also in the multiplayer mode. The wages you collect are deposited into a single bank account, so the money you earn in the campaign missions can also be used to buy gear and weapons for multiplayer matches, and vice versa.

Killzone: Mercenary makes full use of the PlayStation Vita’s considerable input and graphics capabilities. It enhances the familiar dual-stick FPS control scheme with touch controls for actions such as brutal melee, and with tilt controls for accurate sniper aiming. The game even uses the powerful Killzone 3 engine to bring its massive environments and impressive set pieces to life. But don’t just take our word for it — watch the trailer above, and check out the screen shots.

Killzone: Mercenary is scheduled for release on 18th September 2013. Stay tuned to both PlayStation Blog and Killzone.com over the next few weeks – we’ll have a behind-the-scenes interview with game director Piers Jackson soon, and a closer look at multiplayer.

This looks absolutely stunning. Near PS3 level graphics! It is a pity we have to wait until September but it will be so worth it. It is games like this that Vita needs and it seems Sony is finally ready to start delivering the second wave of first-party titles.

personally im not a fan of fps games so i doubt i will buy this for that reason.

but this looks stunning it looks just like killzone on ps3, to me it looks like a system seller and that’s great, the game also still has 7 months till its out so more time to add even more polish to it.

very well done so far this looks like the game fps fans have been crying out for on vita.

This looks really amazing. Both in terms of visuals and actual gameplay. So colourful… and those environments! It is going to be a long wait… but I’d rather wait for something good than get a rushed, unfinished product *cough*Resistance: Burning Skies*cough*.

I bought Burning Skies a couple of weeks ago, for the princely sum of โฌ5,8 At that price it was actually great fun. The first level, which is also the demo, is by far the worst part of the game. Overall it was rather unpolished, but for the price I paid, I had lots of fun with it. I doubt I would have been as amused at โฌ50 though.

Sony shot themselves in the foot by releasing half-junk like Burning Skies. It only brought unneeded nagativity towards the Vita, which is capable of so much more.

You get new IPs all over the place. There’s The Last of Us and Beyond on PS3. Also Gravity Rush, Soul Sacrifice and Tearaway on Vita. I don’t see milking here at all. Last Killzone game was when? February 2011? Then it’s 2,5 years between each games. Who does that? You could say it’s milked if new Killzone games were release evey 12-18 months, which is a standard for majority of big series.

“enhances the familiar dual-stick FPS control scheme with touch controls for actions such as brutal melee, and with tilt controls for accurate sniper aiming”
Oh come off it!!! It’s not enhancing, this is BS. Can you please make this BS at least optional?
What’s wrong with you? The touch controls made Uncharted GA and Resistance on vita unplayable garbage for me. Seriously, what kind of stupid person actually thinks touch screen in a shooter is a good idea? Maybe your menus are touchscreen only too? Then shove them where the sun don’t shine.

Am i right in guessing the motion control is a similar style to KZ2? remember using it to great effect in multiplayer.

And, is there anything in-game reliant on the rear camera? as the camera on mine has been less than cooperative the past few months, which is why i didn’t get AC Liberation or Uncharted golden abyss, they’d be incomplete-able most of the time.

Wow this looks amazing. I might just think about buying myself a vita with this game with it. At the moment the only vita games which I was interested in was

Uncharted
Resistance
Assassin creed liberation

Heard some bad things about them (apart from Uncharted) which put me off on the vita and that Uncharted wasn’t as good as the normal PS3 games. If this Killzone is as good as the PS3 games then I just buy one after all.

Should make a small vita demo but let it be playable on the PS3 so it would let PS3 players get a taste of it. Might help to improve vita sales

I’ve seen mentions on other sites of cards dropped in multiplayer according to the rank of the opponent you kill. Are these dropped in the map and require collection (like treasures in Uncharted) or are they automatically awarded for getting each kill?
Also if they are dropped in the map, can they be picked up by anyone (in which case who gets the card) or just the player who got the kill?

Got CoD-blops-declassified as x-mas present from my bro. It isn’t as bad as i expected, have played some MP and few SP levels. Quite a lot of connection problems in MP. KZ:M looks infinately better than CoD.
Will propably buy this. (Fan of KZ) Just make sure there is KZ3 like Objectives mode in MP. (or no deal)

Gyro controls only on sniper rifles? That’s a bit rubbish. Any chance you’ll change that and use it for every weapon? Gyro controls were fantastic in Uncharted: GA. Having KZM without it would be really a bad thing.

Game looks amazing but im worried about the framerate. Please guys prioritize responsive controls and good framerate over fancy graphics if need be. If this game has a framerate like resistance BS or controls like kz2, you will lose alot of sales. Please don’t make those mistakes!

Let me start by saying how phenomenal the game looks, I am really hyped and can’t wait to finally have a real FPS experience on the go ๐

But I have to say that I am really disappointed by the 8 player multiplayer cap. Thats a bit to low, even if you are gonna design the maps around it. Best player count for teamplay is around 5on5/6on6 for me and for TDM oder FFA even more people are better.

The problem with the 8 player cap gets worse because most of the time you play a game the matchmaking won’t fill up all the slots or people get disconnected so that in the end there are just 6 people around most of the time.

I really hope it’s because of the games nice graphics and not because of another stupid reason, like the Vita voice chat being capped at 8 people (Nihilistics excuse).

I have read, that you are still discussing whether to implement auto aim in multiplayer so I have to voice my opinion. PLEASE DON’T INTEGRATE AUTO AIM IN MULTIPLAYER!!!
Also I would like it, if you could implement gyro aim with every weapon, just not snipers. Make the controls very customisable, so that people can get what they want.

This looks amazing. Judging by the footage and screenshots this looks to be running at native (960×544) rez unlike Uncharted:GA which ran at approx. 60% resolution. Color me mightily impressed if this actually runs at native rez and 30fps (again, U:GA dipped as low as 20 fps). Judging by the footage it does.

You guys are tech-wizzes, never imagined to see graphics on par with PS3 running on mobile hardware. D1p for me! Guys, thanks for what will certainly be Vita’s first properly amazing FPS.

Bravo Guerrilla! Unbelievable!
As a day one customer I think this is what the vita needs!

Now only two more big hitters like inFamous/God of War/next Uncharted/Gran Turismo/bioshock/mgs would be unveiled, even in TEASER form, it would create some much needed vita hype.
The hate now is too high, so even if we get one or two amazing trailers as this one, everyone is still pessimistic:(

Step in the right direction Sony, now don’t be afraid to take a few more!

@Lord_Gremlin; I’d appreciate you not saying everyone who disagrees with your opinion is stupid. Unlike yourself, I personally find most touch-screen features seamless. Unless being ‘stupid’ makes us (who disagree with your opinion) more capable?

@KylieDog; 4 v 4 certainly ain’t a great announcement but the number of players definitely does not define Killzone. If you buy the game and face me, you’ll feel like you’re up against a full 16! Let the trash talk commence. ^^